RESEARCH EDUCATION CORE ABSTRACT: The CDU/UCLA Cancer Center Partnership's Research Education Core is central component to provide and facilitate research educational experiences for undergraduate, graduate, medical, post-doctoral, medical residents, clinical fellows, and early stage investigators (ESIs) to conduct translational cancer health disparities research. In addition, this Research Education Core will continue to play a critical role in providing research instruction to community partners in partnership with our community outreach core and health service providers that include: community oncologists, primary care physicians and internists engaged in our Clinical Resource Service Core. The Research Education Core will serve as portals to the other cores to enhance cancer education, care, treatment and prevention. The Research Education Core will provde interactive and integrated approaches for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary programs and activities for reducing cancer health disparities. The Core will provide four unique research experience programs: 1) a short-term 8-12 week summer intensive research experience for undergraduate-level students in basic, clinical, or community-based science, 2) research internships for graduate and medical students and for post-doctoral and ESIs, 3) long- term research experiences for post-doctoral and ESIs, and 4) a community/academic research experience for community faculty. Student scholars will be placed either at CDU or UCLA with mentors who have experience in cancer health disparities and the student's research interest. The mentor will guide them on a hypothesis- driven project. In addition to hands-on experience, scholars are required to participate in both scientific and career-development seminars and workshops, research-in-progress presentations, professional presentations, manuscript development, and grant proposal development (for graduate to ESIs). The Core has developed an Internal Mentoring Committee composed of CDU and UCLA PIs and IAC members to review the individualized outcomes of scholars, particularly ESIs. Evaluation and Tracking outcomes will be regularly reported and discussed as part of the Planning and Evaluation Core activities. The overarching goal is to develop a diverse cadre of scholars, through hands-on research experiences, into tomorrow's leaders who address will the social, community-based, and biomedical challenges which contribute to cancer disparities.